Paul Harvey was a far-right conservative radio talk host who for decades was on NPR radio. He would give background narratives on people, things and events as entertainment on his famous segment “The Rest of the Story” always ending with the catch phrase “and now you know the rest of the story.”

Axios is an American news website. In addition to news articles, Axios produces daily and weekly industry-specific newsletters, two daily podcasts and a documentary news series on HBO. Axious is known for its very short and condensed reports that do not go into great detail on the news reported.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axios_(website)

AXIOUS REPORT

On May 14, AXIOUS published on its internet web page an article entitled “Crime jumps after court-ordered policing changes”. The article was written by Russell Contreras, the Justice and Race reporter at Axios covering the policies and agencies at the heart of the administration of justice and how it impacts people of color. Following is the article with the internet link:

“Most police agencies in recent federally court-ordered reform agreements saw violent crime rates skyrocket immediately, according to an Axios examination of departments under consent decrees since 2012.

Why it matters: The increases in violent crime rates — in one case by 61% — suggest that there can be unintended consequences, at least in the short term, to the policing changes many Americans have demanded in the year since George Floyd’s death.

They’ve also given police unions another argument in their campaign against reforms.

By the numbers: An Axios review of FBI and Justice Department data on all 12 agencies under consent decrees since 2012 found that seven of them experienced jumps in violent crime rates in two years compared to the two years before they entered into the consent decrees.

Seattle saw a 27% surge in its violent crime during that period following its consent decree in 2012.

Albuquerque, N.M., a city that saw violent protests in 2014 following the shooting of a white homeless man, later experienced a 36% increase in its violent crime rate. Before its consent decree, the city had seen a 30-year low in crime.

Los Angeles County, a region of 10 million people, saw a colossal rise of 61% in its violent crime rate following a consent decree with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — an agency with a troubled history among Latinos and Black residents.

EDITORS NOTE:

The AXIOUS article contained a chart that outlined the percentage increase in crime in 7 of the largest communities two years before the consent decrees. Following are the reported increases in crime by percentage:

Baltimore: 11%
Cleveland: 13%
Maricopa County, Arizona: 19%
New Orleans: 20%
Seattle: 27%
Albuquerque: 36%
Los Angeles: 61%

“Yes, but: Municipalities with less than 50,000 people that entered into consent decrees saw violent crime rates decline.

Ferguson, Mo., a city of 21,000 outside of St. Louis that saw heated demonstrations after the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, saw its violent crime rate drop by 7% during the same two-year comparison.

Warren, Ohio, and East Haven, Conn., also experience noticeable declines during the same period following their consent decrees.

Data for two larger cities under consent decrees — Portland and Newark, N.J. — couldn’t be compared since they are missing key crime numbers.

The intrigue: Attorney General Merrick Garland announced last month that the Department of Justice would launch “pattern or practice” investigations into the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments, following the deaths last year of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Depending on the findings, both cities could be forced into consent decrees to overall their departments.

The investigations come after the Trump administration refused to launch similar investigations into police departments for four years despite pleas from reform advocates.

Between the lines: No one knows why violent crime rates spike after departments enter into consent decrees, according to criminal justice scholars.

Stephen Rushin, associate professor of law at Loyola University Chicago, says only anecdotal evidence exists that suggests disruptions in department leadership or changes in tactics may contribute to the increases.

However, the crime surges may be short-lived. Rushin said his study into 31 cities that operated under federal oversight between 1994 and 2016 showed temporary increases in crime, followed by a steady drop.

“What it does is it suggests that those consent decree measures don’t just go away after a year or two. They’re normally (in place) pretty long-term. Then crime falls.”

But, but, but: That hasn’t stopped police unions and police advocates from using the early data to urge cities to pull back from oversight.

In an upcoming Albuquerque mayoral election and a special election for that district’s House seat, conservatives are urging the federal government to end its consent decree and say the city should turn its focus to fighting crime.

“Right now we are in crisis. Albuquerque is burning, and it seems like politicians are just playing the fiddle. We’ve got to be able to deal with this criminal element that has taken over the city right now,” GOP House candidate Mark Moores told the PBS news show New Mexico in Focus recently.

Even some families of those killed by excessive police force cases say crime in Albuquerque is too high.

“But you can do both. You can fight crime and train officers better so they don’t abuse their power,” Stephen Torres, who lost his 27-year-old son, Christopher, in a police shooting, told Axios.

The big question: Will the reform movement inspired by the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor be able to withstand the backlash against rising crime that has halted other changes to police departments?”

https://www.axios.com/police-consent-decrees-crime-jump-reforms-330f12b6-01ef-48ad-9e84-a65b4d78e7e7.html?fbclid=IwAR33H3dlGujQUvZdhKZhfhMCPwO2nqIO8HRDa82tE1qU4lyC4AIZa0KaBOo

COMMNETARY AND ANALYIS

In the spirit of Paul Harvey, now for the “The Rest of the Story.”

The AXIOUS report is misleading or at worse false when it implies the shooting of homeless camper James Boyd somehow had something to do with the DOJ consent decree and the mandated reforms. Homeless camper James Boyd was shot and killed by APD on Mar 24, 2014. It was two weeks later on April 10, 2014, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, submitted released is scathing 46-page investigation report on an 18-month civil rights investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). In other words, the DOJ was wrapping up their investigation when Boyd was killed and the killing was not one of the reasons for the DOJ investigation. You can read the entire DOJ report here.

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2014/04/10/apd_findings_4-10-14.pdf

DOJ INVESTIGATION

The DOJ investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems of APD. The DOJ investigation “determined that structural and systemic deficiencies — including insufficient oversight, inadequate training, and ineffective policies — contribute to the use of unreasonable force.”

Based on the investigation and the review of excessive use of force and deadly force cases, the DOJ found “reasonable cause to believe that APD engage[d] in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment … . and [the] investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems.”

Federal civil rights laws make it unlawful for government entities, such as the City of Albuquerque and APD, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

The investigative report found a pattern or practice of use of <em>“deadly force” or “excessive use of force” in 4 major areas:

1. The DOJ reviewed all fatal shootings by officers between 2009 and 2012 and found that officers were not justified under federal law in using deadly force in the majority of those incidents. Albuquerque police officers too often used deadly force in an unconstitutional manner in their use of firearms. Officers used deadly force against people who posed a minimal threat, including individuals who posed a threat only to themselves or who were unarmed. Officers also used deadly force in situations where the conduct of the officers heightened the danger and contributed to the need to use force.

2. Albuquerque police officers often used less lethal force in an unconstitutional manner, often used unreasonable physical force without regard for the subject’s safety or the level of threat encountered. The investigation found APD Officers frequently used take-down procedures in ways that unnecessarily increased the harm to the person. Finally, APD officers escalated situations in which force could have been avoided had they instead used de-escalation measures.

3. A significant number of the use of force cases reviewed involved persons suffering from acute mental illness and who were in crisis. The investigation found APD’s policies, training, and supervision were insufficient to ensure that officers encountering people with mental illness or in distress do so in a manner that respected their rights and in a manner that was safe for all involved.

4. The investigation found the use of excessive force by APD officers was not isolated or sporadic. The pattern or practice of excessive force stemmed from systemic deficiencies in oversight, training, and policy. Chief among these deficiencies was the department’s failure to implement an objective and rigorous internal accountability system. Force incidents were not properly investigated, documented, or addressed with corrective measures by the command staff.

BIG DISTINCTION OF ALBQUERQUE’S CONSENT DECREE FROM ALL THE OTHER CONSENT DECREES

What differentiates the DOJ’s investigation of APD from the other federal investigations of police departments such as Baltimore, Cleveland, Maricopa County, Arizona, New Orleans, Seattle and Los Angeles and their consent decrees is that the other consent decrees involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and use of excessive force or deadly force against minorities. The DOJ’s finding of a “culture of aggression” within APD dealt with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that were mentally ill and that were having psychotic episodes.

AXIOUS FAILS TO REPORT POLICE UNION OBSTRUCTING REFORMS

When it comes to the city of Albuquerque and APD , the glaring omission in the AXIOUS report is the fact the police union has aggressively opposed all the DOJ reforms. The truth is found in all the Federal Monitor reports. The police union membership include the APD Sergeants and Lieutenants and it is they that have been the biggest impediments in implementing all the Court Order reforms over the last 6 years. The police union and rank and file have essentially done whatever they could do, and at different times, to interfere with the reform efforts.

CONSENT DECREES

The claim is false that APD’s Court Approve Settlement Agreement is the cause of city’s increases in crime. The false claim reflects a level of ignorance of just how consent decrees work.

The AXIOS quotes Stephen Rushin, associate professor of law at Loyola University Chicago, but does not give the “rest of the story.”

Rushin’s academic report found an uptick in crime among the 31 cities that came under federal oversight between 1994 and 2016. The study also found those increases were temporary and diminished into statistical insignificance over time.

Stephen Rushin, the study’s co-author and a professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law had this to say:

“To say that … [consent decrees] don’t work, at minimum is misleading. … I don’t think anyone, even folks who have spent their life doing this, would think it’s perfect. But I think to say that it just doesn’t work and everyone knows it, that’s not true. … It would be fair to say there’s some empirical support for the claim that consent decree cities have seen maybe an uptick in crime relative to unaffected cities. … But, again it’s more complicated because our research … found that after a few years, that relationship goes away.”

According to Professor Rushin, other experts said that crime rates aren’t the only factor to consider when weighing the potential costs and benefits of consent decrees. For instance, a widely cited study from the University of Texas-Dallas found that cities operating under such agreements saw a decrease in civil rights lawsuits against police. The link to the University of Texas-Dallas study is here:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9133.12295

Professor Rushin went on to say:

“These [crime] numbers are not destiny and there are good examples of cities as big as Chicago going through these kinds of very disruptive processes and coming out the end a much safer and seemingly more constitutional police department”.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2757809

One example is Los Angeles, which operated under a consent decree between 2000 and 2013. A 2009 report from the Harvard Kennedy School found that crime did rise in the first couple years of the consent decree, but at a pace no faster than it did across all of California.

http://lapd-assets.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/Harvard-LAPD%20Study.pdf

DERELICTION OF DUTY

The problem always has been and continues to be that APD management, the police union and its membership have not fully embraced the reforms. In fact, all three have resisted them from time to time, at different times, as has been repeatedly documented by the federal monitor in at least 4 reports over the last 3 years.

Sean Willoughby, the union president, has said that police officers are afraid to do their jobs for fear of being investigated, fired or disciplined. The police union has never articulated in open court and in clear terms exactly what it is about the reforms that are keeping rank and file from “doing their” jobs and “why they hate” the CASA as articulated by the union president.

It’s likely the union feels what is interfering with police from doing their jobs include the following:

The mandatory use of lapel cameras,

APD can no longer shoot at fleeing cars,

APD police can no longer use choke holds,

APD police need to use less lethal force and not rely on the SWAT unit

APD police must use de-escalating tactics and be trained in crisis intervention, and management must hold police accountable for violation of standard operating procedures.

It is a dereliction of duty if APD officers are intentionally and willfully “slowing down getting to dispatches and to not act when they need to” act. It is a dereliction of duty for an officer to simply refuse to act, refuse to take a call for service or intentionally delay the time to respond to a 911 emergency call, or refuse to make an arrest when the officer sees a crime in progress or has probable cause to make an arrest. The argument that “Officers fear that doing their job, will cause them to lose their job” is a feeble attempt to undercut and discredit the reform process in the hopes of bringing it to an end.

Simply put, if an APD police officer does their job and follows constitutional policing practices and procedures as they are required to do, there is nothing to fear and there will be no discipline let alone termination. If any police officer does not want to do their job and not follow constitutional policing practices as mandated by the consent decree, they are part of the problem and need to leave APD or find another line of work.

REASONS CITY’S CONSENT DECREE NOT CAUSING CRIME INCREASE

The APD Police Union and supporters have gone to questionable lengths contacting the news media to discredit the City’s 6-year-old settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the 271 mandated reforms alleging the consent decree is the cause of the City’s increase in violent crime and saying police cannot do their jobs.

Now the Police Union is engaged in a $70,000 ad campaign to discredit the reform process and to have the general public to tell the elected officials the reforms must stop and its a choice between the reforms of continued high crime. Sean Willoughby, the union president, has actually said “You can either have compliance with DOJ reforms or you can have lower crime. You can’t have both”.

There are 3 very strong reasons that the argument the City’s consent decree is causing an increase in violent crime in Albuquerque is false:

FIRST: Critics of the DOJ settlement falsely assume without definitive data that crime has increased because of the consent decree. Albuquerque’s increases in violent crime can be attributed in part to the national trend in violent crime. FBI statistics reveal that Albuquerque has the dubious distinction of having a crime rate 194% higher than the national average. The FBI has never linked the city’s consent decree to the rise in violent crime nor keeping APD from doing its job.

SECOND: Virtually all DOJ consent decrees are tailored to individual community needs. All other consent decrees deal with racial profiling and “systemic racism” and the use of excessive force and deadly force. Albuquerque’s consent decree is totally different. The DOJ investigation of APD did not deal with “racial profiling” nor “systemic racism” but with APD’s use of force with persons suffering from acute mental illness and in crisis. The DOJ found APD’s policies, training, and supervision failed to ensure that police encounters with people having psychotic episodes did so in a manner that respected rights and that were safe.

THIRD: Arguing that violent crime has increased in other cities that have consent decrees is a diversion tactic . It is a tactic used by police unions to interfere with the reform process of consent decrees. On June 6, 2020, a New York Times published the “How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts”. According to the article as demands for police reform have mounted across the country in the aftermath of police violence or deadly shootings, unions have emerged as significant roadblocks to police reforms and change. The greater the political pressure for police reform, the more defiant police unions become in resisting police reforms. Police unions aggressively protect the rights of members accused of misconduct. Police unions can be so effective at defending their members that cops with a pattern of abuse can be left untouched, ostensibly undisciplined and they remain on the force.

The link to the entire New York Times article is here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html

CONCLUSION

Instead of resisting the consent decree, APD management, the police union and police officers must embrace the reform effort. The union and its media sympathizers also need to knock it off with attempting to influence the judge by use of the media to send the Federal Judge a message. The union attorney is more than capable of filing pleadings in support or opposition of the CASA, present evidence under oath to the Judge and make argument in a court of law.

Only until APD becomes in complete compliance will APD be able to fight crime without violating people’s civil rights and thereby allow the dismissal of the DOJ consent decree. One thing for certain is that only APD management, the police union and all APD police officers can make the consent decree actually work and have the court dismiss it sooner rather than later.

On May 17, the Albuquerque City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2021-2022 city budget of $1.2 billion, $711.5 million of which is the General Fund. The General Fund covers basic city services such as police protection, fire and rescue protection, the bus system, street maintenance, weekly solid waste pickup, all city park maintenance, city equipment, animal control, environmental health services, the legal department, risk management, and payroll and human resources.

With 27 different departments, the city employs upwards of 6,400 full time employees to provide the essential services city wide. The $1.2 billion proposed budget is an increase of upwards of $105 million, or 9.5%, over the current levels. The general fund spending increases to $711.5 million, an increase of $39 million, or 5.8%, from present.

The city link to the budget is here:

https://documents.cabq.gov/budget/fy-22-proposed-budget.pdf

The $711 million approved operating budget is 5.8% higher than current year general fund spending.

CITY EMPLOYEE PAY RAISES

The City Council approved a pay increases for city employees who did not see an across-the-board bump this year. The spending plan includes a 3% cost-of-living increase for the municipal government workforce. The Keller Administration had requested a 2% pay increase.

FREE PUBLIC BUS SERVICE

The council also amended the original budget by shifted money to fund free fares on city buses. Free public bus service had been discussed by the City Council before the COVID-19 pandemic. City Councilor Lan Sena said free bus service is even more important as the city emerges from the health crisis and related economic shutdown. The city currently offers free bus rides to certain passengers, such as students under 25 and people over 60, but the amended budget will provide enough money to expand it to everyone.

FUNDING FOR GATEWAY CENTER HOMELESS SHELTER

On February 18, 2021 the Keller Administration purchased the Lovelace hospital on Gibson Boulevard in Southeast Albuquerque for $15 million. The facility is a massive 529,000-square-foot building with upwards of 50% of it is said to be vacant. The city intends to convert the medical center into a Gateway Center which will add health resources for the city along with services for the unhoused, including centrally located shelter beds and supports to connect people with housing.

The City Council approved $4 million for programming at the city’s planned Gateway Center homeless shelter and services hub inside the old Lovelace hospital. The Council also approved an amendment to add $100,000 in one-time money to develop a health center with a pharmacy on the premises.

APD BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

As has been the case for all past budgets submitted by the Keller Administration, public safety continues to be the number one priority of the proposed 2022 city budget. For that reason, the major aspects of APD’s Budget merits review.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) continues to be the largest budget department in the city. APD’s approved general fund operating 2022 budget is upwards of $222 million, or roughly 4.5% higher than fiscal year 2021 existing levels. Ultimately, the City Council approved nearly all the APD funding the Keller Administration requested in the budget proposal submitted on April 1.

Highlights of the APD proposed budget include:

Funding for 1,100 sworn positions and 592 civilian support positions for a total of 1,692 full-time positions. It also includes funding for new positions, including 11 investigators to support internal affairs and the department’s reform obligations under the Federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement, and two communications staffers.

APD has 998 sworn officers after the March graduation of cadets from the APD academy, but is down to 987. Last year’s budget also had funding for 1,100 officers, but APD has failed over the last 7 years to reach budgeted staffing levels.

$2.3 million in funding to annualize funding for 44 additional sworn officer positions added in FY/21.
$3.5 million for a 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), subject to negotiations for positions associated with a union, health benefits and insurance administration.
$1.6 million for a net increase of 20 full-time positions for two full-time positions for the communications services department, one operation review language access coordinator, one senior buyer, one office assistant to support the Southeast Area Command Station and one office assistant to support the Northeast Command Station. Three full-time positions to support the Real Time Crime Center and 11 investigator positions to support internal affairs and compliance with DOJ.
$1,100,000 million for seven full-time positions added intra-year FY/21 at a total cost of including benefits and reduction of $126 thousand in contractual services for a net cost of $931 thousand.
$800,000 for the Department of Justice Independent Federal Monitor required under the Court Approved Settlement Agreement that is still pending after 6 years.
$400,000 for the Use of Force Review contract,
$800,000 thousand for the maintenance agreement for the new CAD/RMS software.
$106,000 for the family advocacy center lease.
$2,000,000 one-time funding increase Risk Recovery, which represents funding to cover litigation.
$74,000 for the Crisis Intervention (CIT) ECHO project.
$90,000 designated for the student loan forgiveness program for APD Officers.
$986,000 thousand for electronic control weapons (TAZER weapons).
$90,000 thousand for the CNM Cadet Academy.
$50,000 for the drag racing tactical plans from FY/21.

Funding for the following new positions are included in the proposed budget:

One senior advisor to the Mayor and CAO and one internal investigations manager were created.

One violence intervention data analyst and one violence intervention special projects manager were created to support the critical mission of reducing violent gun crime in the City.

One Superintendent of Police reform position created to provide guidance in reshaping the training, internal affairs and compliance with the Department of Justice and the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) reforms.

One Assistant City Attorney was created for APD.

NEW COMMUNITY SAFETY DEPARTMENT

The approved 2022 proposed city budget provides for a Community Safety budget of $7.7 million with 61 total employees across a range of specialties in social work and counseling to provide behavioral health services. Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair said some calls that would normally go to APD will be transferred to the Community Safety Department by this summer or fall.

In was in June of last year that Mayor Tim Keller announced the creation of the Albuquerque Community Safety Department (ACS). The new department as announced was to be responsible to send trained professionals to respond to certain calls for service in place of armed APD police officers or firefighters. It was to be an entirely new city department that was to be on equal footing with all the other 19 city departments, including APD and AFRD, that have hundreds of employees and separate functions, tasks, and services.

The ACS as originally presented by Mayor Keller was to have social workers, housing and homelessness specialists and violence prevention and diversion program experts. They were to be dispatched to homelessness and “down-and-out” calls as well as behavioral health crisis calls for service to APD. The new department envisioned will connect people in need with services to help address any underlying issues. The department personnel would be dispatched through the city’s 911 emergency call system. The intent is to free up the first responders, either police or firefighters, who typically have to deal with down-and-out and behavioral health calls.

During last year’s budget process, the Albuquerque City Council severely parred down the proposed new department. The new department as originally proposed by Keller was to have 192 employees, Keller cut it to 100 positions and then the City Council gutted it to 13 positions. The projected budget went from $10.9 Million as originally proposed by Keller then it was reduced to $7.5 Million, the City Council then slashed the budget further to $2.5 Million.

CIVID-19 STIMULUS PLAN APPROVED

During the May 17 City Council final budget hearing, the City Council also approved a $60 million spending plan for the federal COVID-19 stimulus money received through the American Rescue Plan Act. Highlights of funding approved include the following:

$8 million for business grants, including $2 million specifically for the arts and entertainment sector with $500,000 of the $8 million for a proposed art center in the Sawmill neighborhood
$5 million for renovations at Albuquerque Police Department’s Downtown headquarters.
$5 million to renovate the city’s Pino Yards facility
$3 million for city employee premium/hazard pay
$4.2 million to help residents who do not qualify for other stimulus
$4 million for new police cars and cars for other city departments
$4 million to fix the Albuquerque Convention Center’s leaky roof and improve energy efficiency
$3 million for gunshot-detection software
$3 million for Local Economic Development Act grants
$2 million to repair the roof and make other updates of the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum
$1.3 million appropriation for housing vouchers/eviction prevention/domestic violence programs with $250,000 to go specifically to the Albuquerque Street Connect program.
$1 million for improved Downtown lighting
$900,000 for a Tingley Beach splash pad and other improvements

2 CENT GAS TAX HEADED FOR A PUBLIC VOTE

In a narrow vote of 5-4, the council voted in favor of putting a 2-cent-per-gallon tax on the November 2 ballot. The city council bill would impose a gas tax of 2 cents per gallon on all gas sold at stations within city boundaries. The tax money raised would be used to rehabilitate public roads in the city. The revenue generated would pay for public street and roadway system projects, including rehabilitation to improve safety. According to a study, the new 2-cent-per-gallon tax in Albuquerque would cost car drivers $9.48 per year and truck and van owners $13.20.

Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones had this to say:

“I’m not a great advocate of raising any kind of taxes, but this is the most fair – that I’ve been speaking about publicly for 5 years at least. … As our expenses go up in the city, the cost to maintain and add new roads to our city is astronomical.”

Johnny Chandler with the Department of Municipal Development emphasized the importance of the tax. Chandler said the areas that could really use the help are southeast Albuquerque, southwest mesa, and the westside/Taylor Ranch area. According to Chandler:

“Those roadways, that asphalt, it cracks and they need some love … Those roads need some rehab. We’re planning on doing those as well but this additional funding, if it gets passed by voters, they’ll see an immediate benefit in their community. You’re always trying to keep up. … If we had $500 million right now at one time, that’s about how much money we would need to make every road in the city of Albuquerque as good as possible.”

Right now, the city is seeing only seeing $20-30 million for road rehab, which is ultimately a complete repaving and restriping of a roadway.

Links to source material are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/abq-city-council-approves-new-gas-tax-ordinance-now-its-up-to-voters/36454379

https://www.abqjournal.com/2391944/metro-beat-abq-city-council-votes-on-federal-relief-spending-gas-tax.html

CONCLUSION

The enacted City Council’s Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget will now be presented to Mayor Tim Keller for final approval and signature.

On Monday, May 17, Democrat Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez announced that he is running for New Mexico Attorney General, joining Democrat New Mexico State Auditor who announced on May 13 he too is running. Current New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is term limited and is finishing up his second term.

In his announcement, Torrez, 44, had this to say:

“New Mexicans are looking for somebody who’s a fighter in the attorney general’s office and someone who has real experience to take on the job. If you look at the work that we’ve done inside the district attorney’s office, we’ve been able to secure additional resources, modernize that office, transform how it operates, bringing frankly new capabilities that no one had ever envisioned.

I think New Mexicans want bold leadership and tested leadership inside the AG’s Office. … I think they want someone who isn’t afraid to take on some of the toughest challenges we’ve got in the state.

Fundamentally, believe we don’t have a system right now that provides adequate protections for the general public. … It’s undeniable that we’ve got a very serious public safety challenge in Albuquerque. … Violent crime is unacceptably high, murders are extraordinarily high. But what we need right now are individuals with experience in different systems, and who have worked as prosecutors and police leaders, who can draw on ideas from around the nation and try and move this community in a new direction. And I think I bring that to the table.”

Links to news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/district-attorney-raul-torrez-to-run-for-attorney-general/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2391604/district-attorney-torrez-enters-race-for-ag.htmlbI

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

Raúl Torres was born and raised in Albuquerque. He is the son of long time Assistant United States Attorney for New Mexico Pres Torres. He is married to Nasha Torrez, who is also an attorney, and the couple have two teenage children. Raul Torrez went to Sandia Prepatory School, graduated from Harvard University, went on to receive a master’s degree from the London school of Economics, and attained his law degree from Stanford University and went on to be a White House Fellow under President Barrack Obama before coming back to New Mexico to become an Assistant United States Attorney. In 2016, Torrez ran to for Bernalillo County District Attorney and succeeded District Attorney Kari Brandenburg who served as DA for 16 years. Torrez was elected to second term on November 5, 2020.

MIXED REVIEWS ON CASE MANGEMENT

During his 5 years as District Attorney, Raul Torrez has had a number of management issues relating to cases his office has handled.

GETTING SCAMMED

According to a February 20, 2019 Channel 4 Investigates Report, an imposter “scammed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office” falsely claiming she was a victim in a case. The imposter demanded the charges dropped against the violent defendant and that he be released from jail. Below is the link to the Channel 4 report:

https://www.kob.com/investigative-news/4-investigates-imposter-tricks-bernalillo-darsquos-office-inmate-released/5253378/?cat=504

According to the news report, the Defendant Freddie Trujillo pled guilty in a 2017 aggravated assault case. Originally, Trujillo was placed on probation but in December 2018, Trujillo was jailed for violating his probation. Trujillo violated his probation when he physically attacked his estranged relatives, David and Mary Ann Baca. Trujillo was arrested after the attack on his relatives and jailed. One month later Trujillo was released from jail after the District Attorney’s Office dropped the charges against him.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE BACKLOG

According to a February 14, 2019 Channel 13 news story, an anonymous tipster within the District Attorney’s office sent News 13 pictures of stacks of domestic violence cases piled up on a table in the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office.

Below is the link to the story:

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/domestic-violence-victims-left-in-limbo-for-months-after-reporting-crimes/1776417417?fbclid=IwAR2h1vFytK-efAL-ldfY8TpC1iz-eVKDnDal0qB-Lv5jSM2pOrsUFjAltFY

The photos were of 3 stacks of roughly 500 domestic violence case reports. Each one of the domestic violence reports were linked to a domestic violence victim left waiting from 2 to 5 months without hearing anything after calling police reporting misdemeanor domestic violence crimes including assault, theft and restraining order violations. Torrez went on camera with Channel 13, but only after a week had passed giving him time to clear out the backlog. District Attorney Raul Torrez explained the stacks of reports were made up of “criminal summons” cases where police did not arrest anyone for various reasons such as suspects had already left the scene of the crime.

INDICTING AN INNOCENT MAN

In March, 2017, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez announced and took credit for his office indicting 15 young people, ages 20 to 28, on gang related racketeering and other charges in the spring 2017. The RICO indictment was based upon an investigation of an alleged gang which APD said had started out tagging the area around West Central and escalated to committing violent crimes. District Attorney Raúl Torrez held a news conference calling the defendants “members of one of Albuquerque’s more notorious street gangs.”

On Sunday, August 18, 2019 the Albuquerque Journal reported on its front page that one of the young men indicted was 20-year-old Adan Perez-Macias. It was reported he was not a member of the gang APD was investigating or any other gang. It turns out Adan Perez Marcus did not know and never met the others indicted. Perez Marcus was not even in New Mexico at the time the crime he was accused of committing.

District Attorney Raul Torrez labeled the wrongful indictment of Perez-Macias as “unfortunate” and said it could have happened in any case his office handled.
When discussing the wrongful indictment of Perez Marcus, Torrez said “We can be smart and be effective as institutions. We make mistakes and we learn from these mistakes and improve.” Torrez had no apology, no expression of empathy and no offer of help to 20-year-old Adan Perez Marcus. When DA Raul Torrez says it’s all about justice for victims, he apparently does not believe innocent people are entitled to justice nor any kind of an apology for being wrongfully accused by his office for crimes.

VICTORIA MARTENS MURDER

The most egregious mishandling of a prosecution case by District Attorney Raul Torrez involved the August 24, 2016 murder of ten-year-old Victoria Martens whose was killed and her body dismembered and then burned in the apartment bathtub where she was killed in an apparent attempt to dispose of her body. Initially, Jessica Kelly and Michelle Martens, Victoria’s mother, and Michell’s boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, were arrested and charged for the rape, murder and dismemberment of 10-year-old Victoria. District Attorney Raul Torrez personally took over the prosecution of the case.

On June 29, 2018 District Attorney Raul Torrez announced he negotiated a plea agreement where Michelle Martens plead guilty to child abuse of her daughter Victoria Martens. The plea agreement negotiated was to 1 count of child abuse, recklessly caused, resulting in the death of a child under 12. The plea agreement guaranteed a 12 to 15-year prison sentence and dropped the most egregious charges of murder and rape. With the plea deal, Michelle Martens faced a possible sentence of 12-15 years, and with good time she could be out of jail within 6 to 7 years.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1191031/michelle-martens-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse-faces-12-to-15-years.html

Torrez also announced several charges against Fabian Gonzales were dismissed. District Attorney Raul Torrez said that much of the initial facts of the case were “simply not true”, yet Torrez had previously persisted in holding news conferences. The murder charge was dropped, but Gonzales is still charged with child abuse and tampering with evidence. He was released from jail in November, 2019. The trial for Fabian Gonzales is now set to begin on January 3, 2022, according to court documents filed on May 17, 2021. His trial is expected to last three weeks from January 3 through January 21, 2022.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/fabian-gonzales-trial-set-for-january-2022/6112178/?cat=500

The initial APD police investigation and reports alleged that it was Jessica Kelley that stabbed 9-year-old Victoria Martens and that Fabian Gonzales strangled her while Michelle Martens watched the murder. During a press conference, Torrez stated that his office’s investigation found Michelle Martens falsely admitted to committing the crimes when forensic evidence revealed she and her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales were not even in the apartment at the time of the murder and did not participate in the murder.

Raul Torrez had held a press conference after press conference after press conference in the case, including private meeting with the Journal Editors and reporters at the Journal Center. He had more than 3 front page Journal stories on the case and was interviewed by Chanel 4 on the “Eye on Albuquerque” Sunday program on plea agreements he has negotiated in the case.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/07/09/da-torrez-political-damage-control-mission-accomplished/

District Attorney Raul Torrez in his various media interviews shared extensive details of the case and prosecution strategy on the pending criminal prosecution against two other defendants, two identified and one yet to be found. During a January 4, 2019 pretrial motion hearing, District Judge Charles Brown determined District Attorney Raúl Torrez had been “reckless” in his December 10, 2018 statement he made to the media about defendant Jessica Kelley’s absence of cooperation before her no contest plea.

On January 4, 2018, District Judge Brown said that Torrez should not have issued the December 10, 2018 statement at all. Judge Brown admonished Raul Torrez for the statement by stating from the bench in open court:

“I don’t know if it was [intentionally done] to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, or if the goal was to shift the light away from the District Attorney’s Office or to move light to the Albuquerque Police Department … I find it to be woefully inaccurate in its ambiguity. It could be interpreted in many ways – all of them positive to the District Attorney’s office, some to the detriment of others. The District Attorney also has an obligation to protect the due process right of the defendant. … [The District Attorney] … represents the state, which is everyone including the defendant and the defendant’s families … The District Attorney’s obligation is to the system.”

DA RAUL TORREZ ATTACKS CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND JUDICIARY

During his first term as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Raul Torrez attacked the New Mexico criminal justice system and judges on three fronts:

FIRST: TORREZ BLAMED THE COURTS FOR “REVOLVING DOOR” HIGH VIOLENT CRIME RATES

Soon after being elected DA, Torrez began to blame the courts for the rise in violent crime rates saying that the “revolving door” is the courts fault. Four years ago, Torrez accused the District Court and the Supreme Court’s case management order (CMO) for being the root cause for the dramatic increase in crime and the dismissal of cases. The Supreme Court issued the order mandating disclosure of evidence within specific time frames and to expedite trial. Torrez challenged the case management order before the New Mexico Supreme Court and also took action against an individual judge claiming the judge was requiring too much evidence to prove that a defendant was too violent to be released with bond.

Less than six months after being sworn in as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Torrez had the DA’s Office issue a report that outlined the problems he perceived since the issuance by the Supreme Court of the Case Management Order (CMO). The main points of the DA’s 2016 report were that defense attorneys were “gaming” the systems discovery deadlines, refusing to plead cases, demanding trials or dismissal of cases when not given evidence entitled to under the law. The District Court did their own case review of statistics and found that it was the DA’s Office that was dismissing the majority of violent felony cases, not the courts.

SECOND: 65% COMBINED DISMISSAL, ACQUITTAL AND MISTRIAL RATES

In mid-2015 the Bernalillo County 2nd District Court began shifting from grand jury use to implementing “preliminary hearing” schedule. Raul Torrez was sworn in as District Attorney on January 1, 2017 and from day one he opposed the shift to preliminary hearings.

District Attorney Raul Torrez and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller wrote a joint letter to the New Mexico Supreme Court requesting it to intervene and stop the plans of 2nd Judicial District Court (SJDC) to shift away from the use of grand jury system to a preliminary hearing system.

The District Court provided an extensive amount of statistics, bar graphs and pie charts to the New Mexico Supreme Court to support the decision to shift from grand jury hearings to preliminary hearing showing it was necessary. The statistics revealed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office under Raul Torrez had a 65% combined dismissal, acquittal and mistrial rate with cases charge by grand juries. The data presented showed in part how overcharging and a failure to screen cases by the District Attorney’s Office was contributing to the high mistrial and acquittal rates.

The Supreme Court responded to the Torrez-Keller letter refusing to intervene but urging District Attorney Torrez to work with the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (BCCJCC) to resolve his concerns about ongoing cuts to the grand jury system.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/da-wants-nm-supreme-court-to-review-grand-jury-changes/5012558/?cat=500

THIRD: SHIFTING THE BURDEN OF PROOF

Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez proposed a constitutional amendment that would create a “presumption” that a defendant is a threat to the public when charged with a violent crime and that they should be jailed until pending trial without bond or conditions of release. The presumption would shift the burden of proving dangerousness from the prosecution and require defendants accused of certain crimes to show and convince a judge that they should be released on bond or conditions of release pending their trial on the charges.

According to Torrez, the cases where a defendant would be required to show they do not pose a threat to public and should be released pending their trial would include “the most violent and serious cases” such as murder, first-degree sexual assault, human trafficking, first-degree robbery, crimes involving a firearm and defendants who are on supervision or parole for another felony. Such a shift of burden of proof could conceivably require a defendant to take the stand during a detention hearing before their trial and a waiver of their 5th Amendment Constitutional Right against self-incrimination.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1318399/da-to-unveil-new-pretrial-detention-proposal-ex-some-defendants-would-have-to-prove-they-should-be-released-pending-trial.html

PRAISE FOR ACTIONS

Torrez has won significant praise from defense attorneys for publishing a list of police officers with a history of dishonesty, use of force, bias or other issues that might make them unfit to aid in a prosecution.

In a letter dated October 14, 2020, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez notified the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) that his office was introducing a new disclosure policy. The policy is based on the 1974 United States Supreme Court ruling Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972). The Giglio ruling requires the prosecuting agency, in this case the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, to disclose to a criminal defendant all information or material that may be used to impeach the credibility of the prosecution witnesses including police officers and sheriff officers who are witnesses for the prosecution in any case.

The Supreme Court ruling in the Giglio case in nothing new and has been required since 1972. The DA’s office formalizing the process is new. According to the DA’s office, it is being done now because of the dramatic “recent slow-down” in the criminal courts giving the time to develop a training protocol and the infrastructure to launch the new policy.

According to District Attorney Raul Torrez, the new system will bring transparency to the criminal justice system and hold prosecutors and law enforcement accountable. Torrez told both APD and BCSO in his October 14 letter:

In 2020, DA Torrez also filed a civil lawsuit accusing a heavily armed militia group of operating illegally as a military unit and trying to usurp law enforcement authority.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Both State Auditor Brian Colón and District Attorney Raul Torrez are already well-funded each reporting over $300,000 in their campaign accounts. It’s likely more will run. New Mexico State Senator Jacob Candelaria is said to be considering running for Attorney General as is former United States Attorney Damon Martinez who ran unsuccessfully for congress 3 years ago.

Whoever wins the Democratic Primary in June, 2022 will likely become the next Attorney General. The race between both Colon and Torrez is bound to be hard fought in that both have expressed they are interested in eventually becoming Governor or going on to serve in congress. Elected Attorney Generals have gone onto higher office including Toney Anaya who was later elected Governor, Jeff Bingaman who was later elected United States Senator and Tom Udall who was later elected United States Senator. Current Attorney General Hector Balderas is said to be looking at running for Governor.

Republicans are said to be looking for a candidate, but no names have surfaced. The last time New Mexico elected a Republican Attorney General was 34 years ago when Republican Hal Stratton was elected Attorney General of New Mexico and served from 1987–1990.

“Homeless encampments refer to two or more people experiencing homelessness who are living outside, rather than in an emergency shelter. Most homeless encampments are prohibited by local ordinances that do not allow camping and sleeping in public places and zoning laws that bar camping and accessory dwellings.

People living in these unsanctioned homeless encampments live in persistent fear of “sweeps”: clean-up actions by local authorities where encampment residents may lose the few valuables and possessions they have. Nevertheless, due to an acute shortage of affordable housing and even a lack of emergency shelters, homeless encampments not only exist but are also increasing in many cities.”

Link to quoted source material is here:

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=hrap

Homeless encampments are increasing around the U.S. in one form or another including permanent structures and allowing tents. In New Mexico, Las Cruces, has embraced the model with its Camp Hope. The efforts allow homeless encampments have now come to Albuquerque.

GIBSON-O’MALLEY PROPOSE “HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS”

On May 5, it was reported that Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson and Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley want the city and the county to establish “homeless encampments”. They argue the encampments would be a better alternative for those who might now be sleeping on sidewalks, in doorways, arroyos or other places unfit for human habitation. Such camps, also called “safe outdoor spaces” would be managed sites with tents or low-cost structures where people without homes can sleep and access bathrooms and showers. City and County law enforcement and code enforcement would not have any authority to cite or break up the camping on the designate areas.

The link to quoted source materials is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2387588/local-officials-urging-sanctioned-encampments.html

https://www.abqjournal.com/2389681/tent-cities-may-cause.html

County Commissioner O’Malley acknowledged that encampments are no ideal living situation but said the camps would offer a level of “safety, consistency and sanitation” that can help residents obtain other resources and achieve stability. O’Malley had this to say:

“I think the big thing is it really addresses the need of folks who don’t want to be in a shelter.”

Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson for her part said she has thought about encampments since she and O’Malley began working on what is now the community’s first Tiny Home Village. The village in the South East part of the city and is a 30-unit transitional housing development featuring 120-square-foot structures with only beds, desks and porches. Sanctioned encampments would provide a similar environment but at a much lower capital investment than the nearly $5 million for Tiny Home Village.

Both O’Malley and Gibson said the homeless encampments could provide more than just tents. There are other options such as 64-square-foot aluminum structures designed specifically to house people who are homeless. The units have lockable doors and windows and are designed to accommodate electricity, heating and air conditioning. Prices start at $4,900 apiece.

HOMELESS COORDINATING COUNCIL WEIGHS IN

The Homeless Coordinating Council includes leaders from the City, Bernalillo County and the University of New Mexico. The Council embraces encampments as a “high-impact strategy” for addressing homelessness. According to a spokeswoman for the city’s Family and Community Services Department, it is exploring the idea of encampments and researching best practices to deal with safety, security and sanitation.

Family and Community Services Department Director Carol Pierce said there is some local enthusiasm around the homeless encampment model with some conversations happening with potential partners in the local faith-based community.

The city’s upcoming 2021 bond program package that will be on the November 2 ballot for voter approval includes $500,000 for encampments.

NO OVERWHELMING ENTHUSIASM

The Rock at Noon Day is an Albuquerque day shelter for people who are homeless. Noon Day Executive Director Danny Whatley is no fan of government sanctioned homeless encampments as a solution. However, Whatley concedes that outdoor camps may now be a “necessary evil” given the circumstances.
Whatley fears a new surge of homelessness when current pandemic eviction moratoriums expire and federal government funding and grants are gone. According to Whatley:

“Could a sanctioned tent city assist that number and help some folks? Yeah, it probably could. … Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in now, trying to find a safe, secure place or site for folks to live in a tent.”

Steve Berg, the Vice President of Programs and Policy for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said his organization does not have an official stance on sanctioned encampments, only that they be implemented the right way.

According to Berg:

“Success always [depends] on whether there’s a clear and actual plan to get people out of that space and into housing as quickly as possible. … “If you don’t have that, you’re not going to get what you want out of it.”

The link to quoted source materials is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2387588/local-officials-urging-sanctioned-encampments.html

FEAR OF LITIGATION

“Fear of legal challenges influences how cities approach closing encampments. Local jurisdictions want to avoid being taken to court over due process and cruel and unusual punishment challenges, according to … research on encampments. This concern is likely to grow following the September 2018 ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Martin v. City of Boise.

Courts have found that depriving homeless people of the rights to perform survival activities in public spaces when no alternatives are available violates the 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. In Martin v. City of Boise, the court held that “as long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property.” Some legal challenges have resulted in settlements, which generally call for minimum notice before clearance of encampments, requirements for storage of personal belongings, and compensation for people who are swept from encampments and attorney fees.

In January 2018, advocates brought a lawsuit against officials in Orange County, California, following the clearance of a massive encampment along the Santa Ana riverbed. As of October 2018, elements of a preliminary settlement agreement were more expansive and included a commitment to provide proactive outreach and engagement, as well as referrals to services, before evicting people from encampments; development of “standards of care” by the county for homelessness services programs; drawdown of funds already available to support “programs, services, and activities” for people experiencing homelessness; adoption of due process protections; establishment of a method for formally addressing requests for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act; and referrals to collaborative courts2 to handle citations.”

The link to quoted source is here:

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Understanding-Encampments.pdf

POINT IN TIME COUNT

Each year, the “Point in Time” (PIT) survey is conducted to determine how many people experience homelessness on a given night, and to learn more about their specific needs. The PIT survey is conducted on only one night to determine how many people experience homelessness and to learn more about their specific needs. The PIT count is done in communities across the country in both urban and rural areas, and counting both sheltered and unsheltered homeless people.

On January 8,2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report released the annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress containing the statistics for Albuquerque and New Mexico.

The link to the report is here:

https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/5948/2019-ahar-part-1-pit-estimates-of-homelessness-in-the-us/

NEW MEXICO “POINT IN TIME” HOMELESS COUNT

According to the PIT, New Mexico had the nation’s largest percentage increase in homelessness from 2018 to 2019 in the nation with an increase of 27%. New Mexico also had a 57.6% increase in chronic homelessness last year, also the highest in the nation. The percentage increase in Albuquerque’s homeless population alone rose by 15%. In New Mexico there were 2,464 homeless people in 2019 and of that total, 1,283 persons, or about 52%, were chronically homeless.

ALBUQUERQUE “POINT IN TIME” HOMELESS COUNT

The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness was contracted by the City of Albuquerque to conduct the annual PIT count. The Coalition puts the number of homeless people in Albuquerque at 1,524 sheltered and unsheltered individuals. This 1,524 is 206 more than were counted in 2017 when 1,318 homeless people were counted in the city limits.

The city’s pre-pandemic estimates were that about 5,000 households experience homelessness at some point in a given year. Albuquerque has seen an alarming rise in “unsheltered homelessness,” which accounted for 37% of all those identified as homeless in an official 2019 count, up from 14% in 2015.

CITY’S NUMBER OF HOMELESS HIGHER

Under the PIT count, only homeless people who stay in shelters are counted in even-numbered years. Both sheltered and unsheltered homeless people are counted in odd-numbered years. Only those homeless people who can be located are counted, either sheltered or unsheltered, as well as only those who agree to participate in the survey. A 100% accuracy number cannot be determined, only an overall estimate.

The nonprofit Rock At Noon Day offers meals and other services to the homeless. Noon Day Executive Director Danny Whatley believes that based on Noon Day observations, the number of homeless people in Albuquerque is likely between 4,000 and 4,500. What is alarming is that according to Whatley, the fastest-growing segments are senior citizens and millennials defined ad ages 23 to 38 in 2019.

Government agencies and nonprofits report that the city’s homeless numbers are greater than the 1,524 found by the PIT and the number of homeless in Albuquerque approaches 4,500 in any given year.

Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) is New Mexico’s largest school district, serving more than a fourth of the state’s students and nearly 84,000 students. APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta stated the number of homeless children enrolled in district schools, meaning kids from families that have no permanent address, has consistently ranged from 3,200 to 3,500.

Johanna King another APS spokesperson said the number includes people who live in motels or who are doubled up with family or friends. APS serves many students in need with nearly two-thirds qualifying for the federal school meals program. The APS school district serves 29,000 breakfast per school day and 41,000 lunches per school day.

The centralized citywide system known as the Coordinated Entry System that the city uses to track the homeless and fill supportive housing openings reports that approximately 5,000 households experienced homelessness last year.

Links to news stories can be found here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1408348/nms-rise-in-homelessness-tops-nation-hud-reports-27-increase-in-one-year.html

https://www.abqjournal.com/1355819/annual-count-shows-citys-homeless-numbers-up.html

MULTI-SITE APPROACH

It was on Wednesday, May 7, 2020, Mayor Tim Keller said that the city was abandoning the development concept of a single, 300-bed homeless shelter known as the Gateway Center. The city owned shelter was intended to assist an estimated 300 homeless residents and connect them to other services intended to help secure permanent housing. The new facility would have served all populations of men, women, and families. Further, the city wanted to provide a place anyone could go regardless of gender, religious affiliation, sobriety, addictions, psychotic condition or other factors.

In his May 7 announcement, Keller said the city would be proceeding with a “multi-site approach” to the city’s homelessness crisis. Mayor Tim Keller went so far as to state that the 300 bed Gateway Center was “off the table”.

The link to the Keller press conference is here:

https://www.facebook.com/MayorKeller/videos/290814465247439/UzpfSTEwNTQ4MTY4OTY6MTAyMjAwNDA5NDYxMDgwMTQ/

When the city abandoned plans to build one large homeless shelter, city officials said the new multi-site approach could mean a series of “smaller facilities” throughout the community. Ostensibly, there would be no single resource hub in one large facility as was originally proposed with the 300 bed Gateway Center.

City officials have also said the tentative strategy includes 100 to 175 standard emergency shelter beds that could be defined as a smaller shelters to accommodate men, women, children and families, plus 25 to 50 medical recovery beds. Critics are saying 150-175 bed facilities are is way too big.

LOVELACE HOSPITAL ON GIBSON COMPLEX TO BECOME GATWWAY CENTER

On February 18, 2021 the Keller Administration purchased the Lovelace hospital on Gibson Boulevard in Southeast Albuquerque for $15 million. The facility is a massive 529,000-square-foot building with upwards of 50% of it is said to be vacant. The city intends to convert the medical center into a Gateway Center which will add health resources for the city along with services for the unhoused, including centrally located shelter beds and supports to connect people with housing.

On Tuesday, April 6, Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference in front of the Gibson Medical Center to officially announce the city bought massive complex and will transform it into a Gateway Center for the homeless. In making the announcement, Keller had this to say:

“The City of Albuquerque has officially bought the Gibson Medical Center, the cornerstone of our Gateway Center network. In total, this represents the largest capital investment that Albuquerque has ever made for the unhoused. We have roughly 5,000 homeless people.
… .

So we’re going to work with our partners, so the Healthcare for the Homeless, HopeWorks, Heading Home and others, Barrett House, and also a lot of the faith based community.”

On Tuesday, April 13, the Bernalillo County Commission voted to approve $1 million to the purchase and renovate the medical center for the Gateway Center.

CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE SERVICES PROVIDED TO THE HOMELESS

The Family and Community Service Division of the City of Albuquerque is the city department that provides services to the city’s homeless. The services include prevention, outreach, shelter and housing programs and supportive services. The adjusted approved fiscal 2020-2021 General Fund budget for the Department is $56.3 million. The Department employs 296 full time employees.

According to the Family and Community Service Division approved FY 21 budget, city homeless programs and Initiatives provided 4,662 people with emergency shelter through City-funded services. An average of 286 people slept each night at the Westside Emergency Housing Center (WEHC), including solo adults and families.

The link to the entire city 2020-2021 approved city budget is here and you can find the Family and Community Service budget on pages 167 to 180.

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy21-adjusted-approved-numbered-w-hyperlinks-final.pdf

The City, along with community partners and charitable organizations addresses the system of care for the homeless. The City, in collaboration with community partners has:

Coordinated street outreach to people living in public spaces.

Converted the Westside Emergency Housing Center to a year-round shelter, doubling the number of year-round shelter beds available.

Increased annual investment in supportive housing by 44% since FY18.

Invested $10 million in the Workforce Housing Trust Fund to create new, high quality housing for lower and moderate-income Albuquerque residents.

Launched a new $21.4 million emergency rental assistance program to keep people housed who are in danger of being evicted.

According to the department’s budget, city homeless programs and initiatives provided 4,662 people with emergency shelter through City-funded services. An average of 286 people slept each night at the Westside Emergency Housing Center (WEHC), including solo adults and families. (City 2021 approved budget, Page 171) The budget contains line-item listings for contract services that go directly to help the homeless as follows:

Emergency Shelter Contracts: $5,688,094.
Homeless Support Services: $3,384,212.
Mental Health Contracts: $4,329,452
Substance Abuse Contract: $2,586,302

TOTAL: $15,9888,060

The approved FY 21 Family and Community Service Division also provides Affordable Housing and Community Development Contracts totaling $22,531,752.

EDITORS NOTE: A line-item listing of the contracts for Emergency Shelter contracts, Homeless Support Services, Mental Health Contracts and Substance abuse can be found in the postscript to this blog article.

BERNALILLO COUNTY SERVICES PROVIDED TO THE HOMELESS

Over 7 years ago, on February 26, 2015, the Bernalillo County Commission approved a 1/8% gross receipts tax increase on a 3-2 vote to fund new behavioral and mental health services to improve access to mental and behavioral health care services in the county. The tax generates approximately $20 million annually.

The intent for the tax is to invest the funding “in proven ways to better manage the high cost of addiction, homelessness and mental health problems”. According to a county commission announcement, “these issues impact families throughout the community and drive up the cost of public services, especially at the Metropolitan Detention Center.” The gross receipts tax costs shoppers one cent on a $10 purchase of goods and services.

The 1/8th% gross receipts tax was enacted to be used for the purpose of providing more mental and behavioral health services for adults and children in the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County area. The intent is to provide a safety net system for those in need of mental health not otherwise funded in New Mexico.

https://www.bernco.gov/uploads/files/BH%20news%20release%20PDF.pdf

On Oct. 15, 2019 he Bernalillo County Commissioners (BCC) voted and approved funding of up to $10 Million out of the behavioral health tax. County officials said that a total of 47 providers ultimately submitted proposals. The county is funding 11 of the private providers at varying amounts.

The expansion of behavioral health services, while also incentivize the providers to create sustainable, effective linkages between service providers and the people they serve, will improve patients’ access to preventative and chronic care services. The creation of these linkages can help develop and support partnerships between organizations that share a common goal of improving the health of the people and the community in which they live. The expansion will also promote improved outcomes for persons living with a behavioral health diagnosis, a more knowledgeable public, and increased referrals to appropriate services.”

Links to the county news release and news report are here:

https://www.bernco.gov/county-manager/news.aspx?

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Buried in the Family and Community Service Division Budget are these nuggets of information that need to be highlighted:

“According to the department’s budget, city homeless programs and Initiatives provided 4,662 people with emergency shelter through City-funded services. An average of 286 people slept each night at the Westside Emergency Housing Center (WEHC), including solo adults and families.”

Those number actually approach the number of homeless in Albuquerque found by the Point In Time Survey. Notwithstanding, Albuquerque’s homeless population continues to increase.

There is no doubt that Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley and Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson have good intentions and should be thanked for their willingness to take on the homeless crisis in the City. However, their enthusiasm for a homeless encampment needs to be abandoned in that their idea is so very wrong on so many levels.

FIRST: The idea of a government sanctioned homeless encampment, defeats the purpose of what the city and county are already doing. Ostensibly Gibson and O’Malley do not think the city is moving fast enough. The city is making progress with the Gateway Center and the multi-site approach. According to the city, the Gateway Center at the Gibson Lovelace facility will provide 150-175 shelter beds plus 25-50 slots to help people “recover from acute illness and injury [with] a physically and emotionally safe place that will help connect people to housing [and] a compassionate solution to supporting those who are unhoused.”

SECOND: Mayor Tim Keller walked into a neighborhood buzz saw of opposition of his own making when he announced the purchase of the Gibson Medical Center for a Gateway Center without getting input from the surrounding neighborhoods. Hostility and protest erupted from the surrounding neighborhoods. It was reminiscent of what Gibson and O’Malley went through when they advocated the Tiny Homes development in the South East Heights where 120 square foot 30 “tiny home” structures were built. Upwards of 150 to 200 hostile residents showed up at public input forums to oppose the Tiny Homes Project. There is no doubt that the hostility created with the Lovelace Medical Center will be child’s play compared to the hostility that will be generated by a government sanction homeless encampment or tent city. No neighborhood will ever accept a large scale “tent city” for the homeless.

THIRD: The issues of who would manage a homeless tent encampment, who would provide security to deal with illicit drugs and violent crime and who would clean and maintain it all are very difficult questions not easily answered. Then there is the issue of liability and negligent maintenance by the city or county.

ANOTHER OPPORTUNISTIC PIECE OF WORK BY CITY COUNILOR PAT DAVIS

On May 13, it was reported that Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis is coming to the rescue of his constituents with a proposal to change the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO). The IDO currently imposes no bed limits for shelters such as the GATE Way project.

The change would establish new restrictions for overnight shelter beds based on underlying zoning. It would set a cap of 30 beds in mixed-use zones, such as where the Gateway Center at the old Lovelace hospital is situated. The complex is located in Pat Davis’ City Council District.

The changes to the city ordinance which would create new limits on the overnight capacity at homeless shelters in Albuquerque. The highest limit anywhere in the city would be 100 overnight shelter beds in manufacturing zones and business parks. The city ordinance which would also create new limits on the overnight capacity at homeless shelters in Albuquerque. Davis wants to a set a cap of 30 beds in mixed-use zones, such as where the Gibson center is located.

According to Pat Davis, his proposed 30 bed cap would not stop the city from creating a multi-faceted services center with a shelter component. Davis claims his proposal is intended as a fail-safe to prevent the city from “warehousing” a large number of people there, or anywhere else.

As it stands now, the city must seek a “conditional use” approval for shelter services at the Lovelace-Gibson site, and Davis claims that it could get a larger bed allotment by demonstrating that it has an array of services beyond shelter beds. Davis had this to say:

“If they’re just going to operate [the Lovelace Medical complex] as a shelter, they’re stuck with these numbers [if the amendment is approved] If they want to do conditional use that would raise those numbers, they’d have to come up with a reason or justification to do that.”

The city’s Family and Community Services director Carol Pierce, , said she was surprised by Davis’ proposal. Pierce thinks that 30 beds is too low, not just for the city’s operations, but also for other service providers. She said there are larger shelters already operating successfully around Albuquerque. She said that Albuquerque is about 500 shelter beds short of meeting its need. According to Pierce:

“Homelessness doesn’t have a cap on it. … We’re trying to build this whole system of care to really address the needs in our community. … I would be very concerned if this were put into play.”

Davis said he intends to introduce his proposal as a floor amendment during the council’s vote on the annual IDO update, likely in June.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2390438/councilor-proposes-new-limits-on-shelter-beds.html

COMMNETARY

City Councilor Pat Davis has always been a real piece of work absorbed with own self-promotion and seeking higher office. Davis has been on the City Council for 6 years now, and Land Use Planning and Zoning issues have never been his forte nor interested him until now. When Mayor Keller ran into a buzz saw of opposition when he announced the purchase of the Gibson Medical Center for a Gateway Center, Pat Davis saw opportunity to please his constituents, try and stop the project, even though he has been aware the project for some time and never objected to it.

The Pat Davis amendment to the IDO should be rejected out right by the city council on a 1-8 NO vote.

MORAL OBLIGATION

Charitable organizations such as Joy Junction, St. Martins HopeWorks project, Steelbridge, The Rock at Noon Day and Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless provide services to the homeless, and do so by being where the homeless can be found and where the homeless can seek out, reach and have easy access to services.

All too often, we tend to forget our humanity, our political philosophy and our religious faith and beliefs of hope and charity, and condemn the homeless for what we think they represent or who we think they are. We condemn the homeless whenever they interfere with our lives at whatever level, such as pandering for money, begging for food, acting emotionally unstable, sleeping in doorways and defecating in public, and, yes, when we stand downwind from them and smell what living on the streets results in personal hygiene.

We all too easily forget the homeless are human beings who usually have lost all hope, all respect for themselves and are imprisoned for life in their own minds, condemned to fight their demons every hour, minute and second of their life until the very day they die. One thing that must never be forgotten is the homeless have human rights to live as they choose, how they or even where to sleep at night.

The homeless cannot be forced to do anything against their own free will or change their life unless they want to do it themselves. The homeless should not and cannot be arrested and housed like criminals nor animals. Many homeless do not want to be reintroduced into society, and many have committed no crimes and they want to simply be left alone.

The homeless who suffer from mental illness cannot be forced or be required to do anything for their own benefit without due process of law. Too often, the homeless are the victims of crimes, even being bludgeoned to death for fun as Albuquerque saw a few years ago when three teenagers killed two Native Americans sleeping in a vacant lot on a discarded mattress.

We as a city have a moral obligation to make every effort and make available to the homeless services they desperately need. However, providing areas for tent encampments would be a major mistake and will exasperate the very crisis we are attempting to solve.

CONCLUSION

The city continues to have a sharp increase in homelessness. Around 1,500 are homeless any night in the metro area. The city and the country for that reason are spending millions a year in addressing the homeless crisis. It is the actual services that are being provided to the homeless that are critical to solving the homeless crisis, not simply a safe place to sleep at night.

A homeless encampment will defeat all the progress already being made. Government sanctioned homeless encampments will only encourage those who seek such encampments to continue with their lifestyle living on the streets. Providing a place to pitch a tent and sleep at night is not the answer to the homeless crisis. The answers are the support services provided to deal with the homeless.

__________________________

POSTSCRIPT

Following is the line item break down on contracts issued for support services provided to the city’s homeless:

EMERGENCY SHELTER CONTRACTS (Total $5,688,094.)

The approved F/Y 21 Family and Community Service Division budget contains a line item listing of 19 emergency shelter for the homeless contracts totaling $5,688,094.

Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless Motel vouchers for homeless persons: $6,180.
HopeWorks Motel Vouchers for Homeless: $50,000
Barrett Foundation Shelter for women/children: $30,256
WHEC Emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness: $2,400,753
WHEC Various vendors to operate WHEC: $1,257,998
S.A.F.E. House Domestic violence shelter: $234,000
HopeWorks Displaced tenant services: $40,000
Emergency Shelter Contracts: $75,200
Heading Home Emergency shelter for men experiencing Homelessness: $39,000
WHEC Various vendors to operate WHEC: $ 417,558
S.A.F.E. House Domestic violence shelter: $201,000
HopeWorks Day shelter services for people experiencing homelessness: $142,000
Good Shepherd Emergency Shelter Services: $63,000
Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless Motel Vouchers for Homeless: $95,391
Barrett Foundation Motel Vouchers for Homeless: $17,011
First Nations Community Health Source Motel Vouchers for Homeless: $56,684
Barrett Foundation Shelter for women/children: $44,690
AOC Emergency shelter for men experiencing Homelessness: $229,990
WHEC Emergency shelter for people experiencing Homelessness: $285,383

AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY CONTRACTS (TOTAL $22,531,752)

The F/Y 21 Family and Community Service Division city budget contains line-item funding for Affordable Housing and Community Contracts, including 30 contracts to private and charitable organization to provide housing assistance for the homeless , adults and children, and including rental assistance allocations. Affordable housing programs provide approximately 9,500 assisted housing units with approximately 3,500 of those being households with extremely low incomes.

Those contracts include the following and amounts:

Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless for housing assistance for homeless persons: $740,018 Barrett Foundation Housing for assistance for homeless persons: $160,782
Catholic Charities Housing assistance for homeless persons: $ 309,374
Kids Housing assistance for homeless families: $217,004
House Housing assistance for victims of domestic violence: $408,593
Hope Works Housing assistance for homeless persons: $664,686
Barrett Foundation Housing assistance for homeless women: $25,000
Supportive Housing Coalition Permanent housing for chronically homeless: $1,715,350
Supportive Housing Coalition Permanent housing for homeless families: $100,000
Barrett Foundation Permanent housing for women w/children: $107,446
City of Albuquerque -Office of Civil Rights Fair Housing: :10,000
Legal Aid Landlord-Tenant hotline: $75,000
Supportive Housing Coalition Permanent housing for chronically homeless; Housing First model: $270,299
Supportive Housing Coalition Permanent housing for homeless families: $175,000
Barrett Foundation Housing assistance for homeless women: $25,000
Supportive Housing Coalition Permanent housing for chronically homeless; Housing First model: $1,715,350
Supportive Housing Coalition Permanent housing for homeless families: $100,000
Barrett Foundation Permanent housing for women w/children $107,446
Affordable Housing Development/Redevelopment – Rental/Homeownership $1,900,000
Affordable Housing Development/Homeownership Cibola Loop $2,500,000
Affordable Housing Development: $322,199
Albuquerque Housing Authority Tenant Based Rental Assistance: $836,330
Albuquerque Housing Authority Tenant Based Rental Assistance: $288,691
Enlace Communitario Tenant Based Rental Assistance: $414,550
Enlace Communitario Tenant Based Rental Assistance: $125,000
HopeWorks Tenant Based Rental Assistance: $374,656
HopeWorks Tenant Based Rental Assistance 116,000 HOME AH Greater Albuquerque Housing Partnership Operating: $ 48,111
Sawmill Community Land Trust CHDO Operating: $48,111
Affordable Housing Development/Redevelopment – Rental /Homeownership: $5,718,127
TBD Foreclosure Prevention: $50,000
Property Tax Education: $15,000
Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless Housing assistance for homeless persons: $740,018
Barrett Foundation Housing assistance for homeless persons: $160,782
Catholic Charities Housing assistance for homeless persons: $309,374
Kids Housing assistance for homeless families: $217,004 COC
House Housing assistance for victims of domestic violence $408,593
HopeWorks Housing assistance for homeless persons: $664,686
HopeWorks Housing assistance for homeless persons: $134,436 COC
Housing assistance for homeless persons: $446,163

HOMELESS SUPPORT SERVICES: (Total: $3,384,212.)

The approved F/Y 21 Family and Community Service Division budget contains a listing of 27 emergency shelter contracts totaling $3,384,212 for Homeless Support Services. Those contracts and amounts are as follows:

NM Coalition to End Homelessness: $108,654
NM Coalition to End Homelessness ( Coordination) : $15,000
Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless Dental Services for people experiencing homelessness: $229,760
Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless Dental Services for people experiencing homelessness: $67,400.
Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless Support services for persons experiencing homelessness or are precariously housed, behavioral health issues and history of incarceration (City/County Joint Jail Re-entry project): $125,000
Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless Art therapy for people experiencing homelessness: $38,760 HopeWorks Provide Housing, Case Management, and Counseling to Chronically Homeless and precariously housed persons with BH Diagnosis: $235,250
APS-Albuquerque Public Schools APS Title I Services for Children Experiencing Homelessness: $80,000 Barrett Foundation Supportive Services: $25,000
HopeWorks Supportive Services: $360,000
Kids Supportive Housing and Case Management: $80,500
Heading Home Supportive Services: $ 230,000
Heading Home Supportive Services for ABQ Heading Home: $195,000
Heading Home ABQ Heading Home Coordination: $110,000
Bernalillo County Transition coordinator and operations of City/County jail re-entry program: $79,310
NM Coalition to End Homelessness (Coordination): $31,100
NM Coalition to End Homelessness (Coordination) : $25,000
HopeWorks Meals for people experiencing or near homelessness: $58,440
HopeWorks Wells Park and Barelas cleanup: $60,000
Steelbridge There’s a better way van: $156,473
Supportive Housing Coalition Support services for persons experiencing homelessness or are precariously housed, behavioral health issues and history of incarceration (City/County Joint Jail Re-entry project): $298,000
Tender Love Community Center Job development women experiencing Homelessness and precariously housed situations: $45,560
New Mexico Veterans Integration Center Community Support Shuttle: $120,000
Crossroads for Women Transitional housing and supportive social services: $154,500
HopeWorks Provide Housing, Case Management, and Counseling to Chronically Homeless and precariously housed persons with BH Diagnosis: $244,750
NM Coalition to End Homelessness Coordinated Entry System: $155,000
NM Coalition to End Homelessness (Coordination) : $35,755

MENTAL HEALTH CONTRACTS ( TOTAL $4,329,452)

The approved F/Y 21 Family and Community Service Division budget contains a listing of approved MENTAL HEALTH CONTRACTS totaling $4,329,452. Those contracts and amounts are as follows:

2nd Judicial Court Assisted Outpatient Treatment Court Proceedings and Program: $ 223,729 HopeWorks Clinical Services for Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program: $351,689
UNM Institute for Social Research Program Evaluation for Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program: $154,704
Legal Representation – Andrea Gunderson, Reynaldo Montano, and TBD Legal representation for petitioner/respondents for Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program- multiple contracts not to exceed total: $120,000
Pro Tem Judge Court Proceedings for Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program: 34,580 Technical Assistance and Training for Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program: $25,000
Legal Representation -Andrea Gunderson, Reynaldo Montano, and TBD Legal representation for petitioner/respondents for Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program- multiple contracts not to exceed tota: 60,000
Angela Nichols Re-Integration Services: $ 20,000
Assertive Community Treatment database: $75,000
Casa Fortaleza Mental health services for survivors of sexual assault: $21,550
Heading Home Outreach services for homeless mentally ill: $360,000
HopeWorks Mobile Crisis Teams – clinical services: $280,000
NM Solutions Assertive Community Treatment: $83,400
HopeWorks Outreach services for people experiencing homelessness & mental illness: $70,000
Bernalillo County Community Health Council Public Health Imitative: $307,850
HopeWorks Assertive Community Treatment: $51,600
Casa Fortaleza Mental health services for survivors of sexual assault: $70,380
Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico Mental health services for survivors of sexual assault: $225,070
NM Solutions Assertive Community Treatment: $559,900
HopeWorks Assertive Community Treatment: $591,700
UNM- Health Sciences Center Assertive Community Treatment: $643,300

SUBSTANCE ABUSE CONTRACTS FOR COUNSELING (TOTAL $2,586,302)

The approved F/Y 21 Family and Community Service Division budget contains a listing of approved SUBSTANCE ABUSE CONTRACTS for counseling service in the amount of $2,586,302. Those contracts and amounts are as follows:
Cathy Imburgia Program Coordinator for DOJ Opioid Grant: $50,000 DOJ
UNM Health Sciences Center Provide peers in emergency department for DOJ Opioid Grant: $36,045
Institute for Social Research Determine effectiveness of Peer to Peer Project: $ 15,000
TBD Interepretation services: $15,000
Treatment provider network database 70,000 GF PT Sheryl Philips Treatment provider: Clinical review of behavioral health services $24,990
Treatment Provider Network Voucher based substance use treatment services including meth 63,127 Healing Addiction in Our Community Transitional living and treatment for opioid and other addictions $102,000
Healing Addiction in Our Community Transitional living and treatment for opioid and other addictions $100,000
YDI School based substance use treatment services: $190,030
Office for Community Health Intensive Case Management for persons experiencing Substance Use Disorder $607,500
First Nations Community Health Source Youth Substance Abuse initiative: $1,960
First Nations Community Health Source Youth Substance Abuse initiative: $98,800
Treatment Provider Network Voucher based substance use treatment services including meth: $1,019,350
Healing Addiction in Our Community Transitional living and treatment for opioid and other addictions: $50,000
Health Sciences Center Office for Community Health Intensive Case Management for persons experiencing Substance Use Disorder: $142,500

NEWS UPDATE: On May 15, it was reported that a suspect by the name Richard Kuykendall was charged with federal offenses in connection with the killing of the 3 people that he drove to Anna Kaseman Hospital. According to the complaint, Kuykendall has at least 35 arrests in New Mexico and Massachusetts. Kuykendall is being charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The news report says Kuykendall has an apparent association with the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang and all three victims were members of that gang.

According to the criminal complaint, Kuykendall was walking in the alley and a dark-colored Chevy Malibu pulled up from behind and stopped next to him. Kuykendall tried to get in the car whereupon someone from inside the car fired several shots at Kuykendall. The complaint says Kuykendall ducked while several more shots were fired through the windshield. Kuykendall was able to get in the car and shut himself inside. A few seconds later he exited the car and walked to a nearby dumpster where the Albuquerque Police Department later found a pistol.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/man-linked-to-kaseman-hospital-triple-homicide-being-federally-charged/

It appears that the Channel 13 report has confirmed my assessment that the 3 killings were a a gang related hit job.

ORIGINAL MAY 14 BLOG ARTICLE

In the afternoon of May 12, 3 people were found fatally wounded at the Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital, near Wyoming and Constitution NE. APD police responded around 3 p.m. to multiple gunshot victims arriving to the hospital in a single vehicle. Paramedics on the scene found 3 people fatally injured, one of whom died after they attempted life saving measures.

At the time, it was not clear if the 3 people were killed at that scene or elsewhere. On the northwest side of the hospital, police wrapped crime scene tape around a car, its windows full of what appeared to be bullet holes. It turns out all 3 were killed in a violent shootout captured on security camera video.

ALARMING VIDEO CAMERA FOOTAGE RELEASED

On May 13, it was reported widely that a security camera video from a camera that faces north to the street Cutler captured the entire incident in the alley that is just north of the Peterson Properties office complex building on San Pedro. The video released by Peterson Properties shows a violent shootout that led to the 3 people fatally injured being left in a vehicle outside of Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital, near Wyoming and Constitution Northeast. The video provided to the news media by Peterson Properties, shows the incident as it happened in an alleyway behind Mario’s Pizzeria, near Cutler and San Pedro NE, which is West of Coronado Mall and a few miles from the hospital.

The video camera footage reveals that around 2:40 p.m., a man in a white shirt and jeans is seen apparently walking on the East side of the ally street ostensibly minding his own business and calmly walking across the ally to the other side of the ally road behind Mario’s Pizza and he approaches Cutler street. Suddenly, and older model 4 door sedan with tinted windows pulls up from behind the man and the man is seen between the car and a private resident’s cinder block wall. The man appears to grab the door handle to get in when gunfire instantly erupts from inside the car. The man crouches to the ground to avoid being shot as a number of bullets miss the man outside the vehicle with the bullets hitting the cinder block wall as debris flies in a puff of gray smoke in all directions.

The man ducks as the initial shots are fired, he rushes bent down to the front of the vehicle and moves to the driver side of the vehicle. As he moves to the other side of the car, more bullets erupt from inside the car windows in multiple directions. The man opens the rear driver’s side door and lunges into the car. After several seconds, the man gets out, runs down the allyway, turns around and approaches the car again. He shuts the rear door and opens the driver’s side door. The man leans into the driver’s side door for several seconds before getting in, shutting the door and driving off.

The link to the FACEBBOOK video is here.

https://www.facebook.com/petersonpropertiesllc/videos/1471079073225003

SECOND VIDEO

A different video, provided by Victor Segura, owner of CPR 2U New Mexico shows a person without a shirt running on Virginia Street. The person has multiple tattoos on his right arem, including a cross on his chest. He was holding what appears to be a white T-shirt under his arm. He also appeared to have a cell phone in his hand.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/videos-show-shooting-person-of-interest-in-triple-homicide-investigation/6107123/?cat=500

PETERSON PROPERTIES POST

In a FACEBOOK post with the video, Peterson Properties had this to say:

Over our 50 years of business in Albuquerque, crime has emerged as the #1 impediment to our community’s prosperity. As part of the battle, we’ve installed thousands of cameras on our properties. Yesterday, one captured what is suspected to be the homicide that left three bodies dropped at Kaseman hospital. We’ve shared the videos with authorities. Now, if only we could have a person with a career in law enforcement take charge, as opposed to a Harvard elite with perfect hair.

Links to related news coverage are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2390419/security-video-shows-triple-homicide-shooting.html

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/videos-show-shooting-person-of-interest-in-triple-homicide-investigation/6107123/?cat=500

ABOUT PETERSON PROPERTIES

Peterson Properties is the largest landlord in New Mexico. It was established in 1971. The company has developed or acquired over 5 million square feet of commercial real estate totaling over a billion dollars in value. Peterson Properties currently owns a portfolio of 45 properties totaling over 1.2 million square feet. The company has one of the most respected reputations in the city. The company has hundreds of tenants who occupy their properties. Peterson Properties has decades of experience in commercial real estate in the state of New Mexico. Peterson Properties has developed properties from the ground up, as well as acquiring existing properties and making improvements.

The link to the Peterson Properties web site is here:

https://www.petersonproperties.net/

Over the many decades, Peterson Properties has always been involved with what is good for the city and has not just simply catered to City Hall interests and desires. One side note that proves this point is that the company was involved with the federal lawsuit to stop the disastrous ART Bus project down Central that has destroyed historic Route 66.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

When you look at the video, it really comes across as an apparent “hit job” that ended with the assassin’s getting themselves killed. The man is lucky to be alive given all the bullets fired at him.

The shooting has all the feel of being a gang related hit job. It is likely that if authorities find the intended target, he will be able to argue “self-defense”. He probably did more for his would be assassins by taking them to the hospital then they ever would have done for him had they shot him and left him to die.

THAT’S GOTTA HURT

“If only we could have a person with a career in law enforcement take charge, as opposed to a Harvard elite with perfect hair.”

OUCH! That’s gotta hurt and will leave a bruise. The comment from Peterson Properties was directed at Mayor Tim Keller. Mayor Tim Keller, 43, is a graduate of St. Pius X High School. He attended Notre Dame University where he graduated with a degree in Art History. He then went on to earn a Master’s of Business Administration with honors from the Harvard Business School.

Peterson Properties with its video and very short post has captured the frustration of what is going on in the City not only by elected officials but the business community and residents. Crime has emerged as the #1 impediment to our community’s prosperity. The postscript to this blog article summarizes the problem the city is faced when it comes to homicides, but there is so much more to the out-of-control crime rates. With the State and City emerging from the pandemic, it’s likely things are only going to get worse during the hot summer months leading up to the 2021 municipal election.

CHOICE BETWEEN LESSER OF TWO EVILS OR NOT VOTING AT ALL

Mayor Tim Keller and Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales are running for mayor. Both are seeking public financing and will likely make the ballot. Frankly, with Keller and Gonzales, we are faced with voting for the lesser of two evils, or just not voting.

Mayor Tim Keller

Keller is the front runner now because of his incumbency, but as the body count mounts things are only going to get worse. His accomplishments have been less than stellar. The city’s high murder rate is rising even further. There will be more violent crime during the hot summer as people break out of quarantine as things return to normal. Keller has not come close to the change he promised in 2017. After being elected, Keller signed a tax increase after promising not to raise taxes without a public vote. Keller failed to make the sweeping changes to the Albuquerque Police Department, and his promised implementation of the DOJ reforms stalled so much that he fired his first chief. Keller has appointed Harold Medina – who has a nefarious past with the use of deadly force against two people suffering from psychotic episodes – permanent chief. Keller is not even close to reaching the 1,200 sworn police officers promised nor to community-based policing. Keller’s promise to bring down violent crime never materialized and four programs to bring down violent crime have failed. For three years, murders have hit an all-time record, with many still unsolved.

Sheriff Manny Gonzales

Gonzales brings to the table his law enforcement credentials, but that’s it. He is well-known for his opposition to civilian oversight and inability to work with other elected officials, often being at odds with the County Commission and the District Attorney’s Office. As mayor, Manny Gonzales will not listen to nor work with the City Council, let alone respect the Police Oversight Board and the Community Policing Councils. Gonzales is a throwback to the way law enforcement was many years ago before the Black Lives movement. He failed to keep up with the times by implementing constitutional policing practices within BCSO. He opposes many of the DOJ reforms. When Gonzales says, “I answer to the people who voted me into office,” he is saying he answers only to those who support him.

In all the 6 years Manny Gonzales has been Bernalillo County Sheriff, he has been conspicuously silent on just how bad the crime rates are in Bernalillo County. There is a very good reason for that silence. On April 8, the Albuquerque Journal published on its front page a story written by Journal staff reporter Matthew Reisen with the banner headline “BCSO has been silent about this year’s homicides.” It was reported that BCSO waited until the week of April 5 to report on the 2 homicides that occurred in the county and being investigated by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Further, the BCSO waited until April to report that the December 2020 death of Francine Gonzales, 36, on the West Side was ruled a homicide after an autopsy in late March.

The link to the full report is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2377985/sheriffs-office-was-mum-on-2021-homicides.html

During Sheriff Gonzales 6 years in office, crime has become just as bad in the county as in the city. The Best Places to Live web site compiles data on cities and counties throughout the United States ranking them in such categories such as cost of living, job market, economy, real estate, education and health and weather. Crime is one of the most important categories. Best Places to Live ranks crime on a scale of 1, low crime, to 100, high crime.

According to the data published Bernalillo County, New Mexico, violent crime is 42.3 with the US average being 22.7.

Bernalillo County property crime is 66.5 with the US average being 35.4.

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/county/new_mexico/bernalillo

THE CHALLENGES WE FACE

The city is facing any number of problems that are bringing it to its knees. Those problems include the coronavirus pandemic, business closures, high unemployment rates, exceptionally high violent crime and murder rates, continuing mismanagement of the Albuquerque Police Department, failed implementation of the Department of Justice reforms after a full six years and millions spent, declining revenues and gross receipts tax, increasing homeless numbers, lack of mental health programs and little to none economic development.

The city cannot afford another mayor who makes promises and offers only eternal hope for better times that result in broken campaign promises. What is needed is a mayor who actually knows what the hell they are doing, who will make the hard decisions without an eye on the next election, not make decisions only to placate their base and please only those who voted for them. What’s needed is a healthy debate on solutions and new ideas to solve our mutual problems, a debate that can happen only with a contested election.

There is plenty of time for other candidates to run as privately financed candidates and raise private campaign donations. The commencement time for privately finance candidates to collect the 3,000 nominating petition signatures for Mayor is later and is June 8 to August 10. Privately finance candidates can collect donations at any time.

Anyone one interested in running for Mayor and who has a real love for this city and is concerned about what is happening is encouraged to contact the City Clerk’s office.

The link to the city web site for candidates is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2021-candidates

__________________________________

POSTSCRIPT

BODY COUNT CONTNUES TO RISE AS MURDERS GO UNSOLVED

As of May 12, 2021, there have been 49 murders. During the same time period in 2019, there had been 28 murders. With 49 homicides in the first 4 months of 2021, it’s likely the city will break another record number of homicides for a 4th year in a row.

In 2017, the last year of former Republican Mayor Berry’s Berry’s second term, 72 homicides were reported.
In 2018, the first full year of Mayor Keller’s term there were 69 homicides.
In 2019, during Mayor Keller’s second full year in office, there were 82 homicides, the highest number of homicides ever recorded in the city in one year.
The previous high mark was in 1996, when the city had 70 homicides.
The year 2020 ended with 76 homicides, the second-highest count since 1996.

CITY’S HISTORICAL LOW HOMICIDE CLEARANCE RATES

Each year since 1995, the FBI has released annually its Crime In The United States Report. Following are the national clearance rates for the last 4 years:

In 2016, the national clearance rate for murder offenses was 59.4%.
In 2017, the national clearance rate for murder was 61.6%.
In 2018, the national clearance rate for murder was 62.3%.
In 2019, the national clearance rate for murder was 61.4%.

https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/publications

APD’S CLEARANCE RATE SUBSTATIALLY BELOW NATIONAL CLEARANCE RATE

For the past three years, Albuquerque’s homicide clearance percentage rate has been in the 50%-60% range, well below the national averages.

According to the proposed 2018-2019 APD City Budget, in 2016 the APD homicide clearance rate was 80%.

In 2017, under Mayor Berry the clearance rate was 70%.
In 2018, Keller’s first full year in office, the homicide clearance rate was 56%.
In 2019, the second full year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 52.5%, the lowest clearance rate in the last decade.
In 2020, Keller’s third full year in office, the clearance rate dropped to 50%.
In 2021 the clearance rate has dropped to less than 29% thus far this year.

Further, of the 75 homicides thus far in 2020, half remain unsolved.

During an August 18. 2020 press conference, Mayor Keller was asked questions about APD’s homicide clearance rates. APD reported at the time that it was making arrests for about half of all homicides. Keller had this to say about the clearance rates:

“We know that the clearance rate is a little bit lower than it has been. It’s not out of line with the national standards … But, I will say the reason why we’re challenged is because there are so many homicides. So, the more homicides there are, the lower the clearance rate is going to be.”

Absent from his comments was any announcement of increasing the size of the homicide unit. When Keller says “We know that the clearance rate is a little bit lower. It’s not out of line with the national standards”, we also know what Keller is saying is simply false. The national clearance rate is approximately 62% while APD’s rate has plummeted from 70% to a miserable less than 29%.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Given the sure number of homicides and the pathetic homicide clearance rate, the Homicide Investigation Unit needs to be increased from 11 detectives to at least 25 detectives. Further, given the units low clearance rate and past performance, more needs to be done with respect to recruiting and training.

APD is still in a crisis mode and it needs to concentrate on recruiting seasoned homicide detectives from other departments if necessary. At the very least, APD needs to ask for temporary assignment of personnel from other agencies such as the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department or the New Mexico State Police to help clear out the cases.

There is no doubt the Keller Administration will never ask for help from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s office seeing that the Sheriff wants to be Mayor. The thing is that Manny Gonzales has been just as hapless of managing the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office as Keller has been managing APD.

On May 13, Democrat New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colón announced his candidacy for the office New Mexico State Attorney General ending months of speculation. The 51-year-old Democrat is the first announced candidate for the job which will be on the June, 2022 primary election ballot.

Colón is from Los Lunas, New Mexico, is married, his wife’ name is Aleli and the couple have 1 adult child, Rafael who recently graduated from college. Mr. Colón attended the University of New Mexico Law school from 1998 to 2001 earning his Juris Doctorate. He attended New Mexico State University from 1988-1998 and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration majoring in Finance

State Auditor Colón is serving his first term as State Auditor having been elected to a 4 year term in 2018. He could have run for one more term as State Auditor, but has opted to run for Attorney General. Attorney General Hector Balderas is term limited and can not run for a third term. Prior to being elected Attorney General, Balderas served two terms as State Auditor. Colon will be essentially following the same path from State Auditor to Attorney General as Hector Balderas.

In making his announcement, Colón sees the office of Attorney General as the logical opportunity to “take the next step” to deal with crime in the state. As State Auditor, Colón has emphasized protecting taxpayer dollars from “waste, fraud and abuse”. Not at all surprising is that Colón said that crime will be his No. 1 priority as attorney general. He said he wants the office to take on tough cases local prosecutors shy away from, including prosecutions of bad cops or corrupt politicians. Crimes against children, sex crimes and gun crimes would also be priority. Colón had this to say:

“[New Mexico] can’t have prosperous communities until we have safe communities. … What motivates me is to fight for New Mexico’s families. … It’s what I’ve done my whole life.”

According to Colón, his motivation is rooted in his experience growing up in New Mexico and his desire to serve his community. He has often recalled during past campaigns the struggle of being poor and having to take on the role of caring for his mother and siblings when his father died at a young age.

Prior to becoming State Auditor, Colón he served as the Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. In 2010, he ran for and lost his bid for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico and in 2017, he ran for Mayor of Albuquerque. Colón is very well known within political circles for never ending positive campaigning, his fund-raising prowess not only as a candidate for office but for the numerous charitable organizations where he is a member. Colón reported last month that he has $367.000 in cash in his campaign account. In 2017 when he ran for Mayor of Albuquerque, Colón raised well over $800,000, is expected to raise even more for a statewide race and he has a very dedicated and loyal following.

State Auditor Colón has served on upwards of 40 community and charitable organizations including:

Serving as a trustee for the Albuquerque Community Foundation
Serving as a mentor of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico
A member Hispanic Heritage Committee
A member of the Hispanic Philanthropic Society
United Way of Central New Mexico (President/Vice President/Member)
Member Spanish Colonial Arts Society
Member of the Southern Poverty Law Center
Member University of New Mexico Foundation Board

State Auditor Colón begins the race as the clear front runner from those Democrats who are hinting at running for Attorney General, including Democrat Bernalillo District Attorney Raul Torres, former United State Attorney for New Mexico Damon Martinez and State Senator Jacob Candelaria. Who ever wins the Democratic Primary in June, 2022 will likely become the next Attorney General. The last time New Mexico elected a Republican Attorney General was 34 years ago when Republican Hal Stratton was elected Attorney General of New Mexico and served from 1987–1990.